Ever since the Ukraine-Russia rift has started, the entire world is at stake regarding a lot of queries. Inside our nation there’s a huge assembly of people who were concerned about their near ones residing in the affected land. More than 20,000 students were pursuing their respective courses from Ukraine, our Indian Government took the initiative to get them to the motherland safely. However still there were a set of questions that every student along with their parents were interrogating upon. Ashwini Jain, founder and CEO of a study abroad platform ForeignAdmits in an exclusive interview with FinancialExpress.com throws his expertise on some similar questions. ForeignAdmits aims at addressing one of the biggest problems of personalized mentoring for students aiming to pursue study abroad and eventually become an expert in their desired discipline of study. Excerpts: 

How do you see this war from an expert’s point of view being in the industry of education?

Education brings 2 people, groups, and nations togethers. In the world of globalization, this war has created many problems for students, families, and governments. Nobody was anticipating this outcome. This war will create fear along with many questions among  students as well as parents. The best thing is, now students will be making informed decisions and will prefer the best countries rather than cheaper education.

What will be the future of students who are back from Ukraine with their ongoing courses? Few are very fresher, few are in the middle of course and some are about to complete.

There are mostly 3 ways:
a) Students who are closer to completion can shift to a private college in India.
b) Students who are in the middle of the courses can transfer to Indian colleges with government approval. However, it will be a burden on parent’s pocket. Also, students have a better option which is shifting to other countries having similar education systems like Poland, Hungary, Turkey, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan.
c) If they are in 1st or 2nd year, then countries like Philippines are best options as they shorter courses duration

How will it impact the study abroad on a larger scale?

In the short run, it will create fear among students and parents like COVID-19. But, after some time things will come back to normal. After this war, I am hoping that students will prefer the best countries as compared to countries with cheaper education.

Now Parents as well as students don’t feel it is safe to go abroad for study purposes. Do you think this war has created a big void in this domain? Why ?

Yes, it has created some concerns on the parents’ side but not on the students’ side. Parents always care about safety and due to these types of events, everyone is concerned.

In the wake of this war, do you think parents and students will now be more careful in selecting the country for foreign education? What precautions should they follow?

Definitely, yes. They should prefer countries which are best in education and have strong economies. Major events like COVID-19 and Russia-Ukraine war have generated many questions among students. It is not good at all for the future generation.

Anything else you want to highlight about this War and Students?

I would like students and parents to remain strong in this difficult situation. There are various options through which they can finish their education, so there is no need to panic at this moment. Many countries have come forward to help students which is a good indication.